The padel field

Padel is a racquet sport that is played in teams of 2 on a specific court of 10 by 20 meters, either outdoors or indoors.
The court is fully fenced with wire mesh and transparent walls, with the exception of the access doors that are located at the net.
The transparent walls located at each end of the court allow to score points with rebounds on them, just like squash. The wire mesh is located on each side of the court and prevents the ball from going out.
The markings on the court delimit the service areas.

Equipment to play

The racquets are made without string, and they are plain and pierced with holes. They are made from modern materials used for other racket sports such as carbon, graphite, titanium, fiberglass, Kevlar, epoxy, etc...
The ball resembles that of tennis but is specific to padel.

Start now with the following equipment

Scoring

Points are counted like in tennis (15, 30, 40, advantage) with 6 games per set and 2 sets to win the game.

Serving in padel

The serve is made from behind the line reserved for this purpose and made diagonally with two possible trials per serve.
The serve is made below the hips - also known as underhand service- and with a bounce first before hitting the ball.
The ball must bounce in the opposite square and must not touch the net. Moreover, if it touches the fence after rebound, it will be considered a fault.
If it touches the net and is bounced into the service box the serve will be deemed let and will be replayed, but if it touches the net and ends up outside of the service box, it will be a fault.

The game

In order for a ball to be valid, it must bounce in the opposite side. As in tennis, the opposing team is allowed only one bounce on the ground after what the ball must be shot back. Volley shots are also allowed.
A ball that has bounced on a wall, can be returned. It may also be returned with the help of a rebound on the wall.
When overhead smashing, there may be several possibilities:

  • Either the ball can be returned directly
  • Either the ball bounces and goes out of bounds, in which case the opposing team may leave the court to try to return the ball before the second bounce (very spectacular plays)
  • Or the ball bounces on the wall and comes back to the player who smashed. In this case the opponent will try to strike the ball and make it go back on the court, otherwise the smasher will win the point.